


Harold

by Dahlia_Rose_83



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Building snowmen, Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 14:05:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13125264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dahlia_Rose_83/pseuds/Dahlia_Rose_83
Summary: A little Forwood-Christmas-fic.





	Harold

**Author's Note:**

> For my friend Leonie, who kept begging me for forwood-christmas-fluff.

Caroline Forbes had always loved Christmas. But not because of the presents. Okay, also because of the presents. But mostly she had always loved the whole atmosphere. The fact that once a year everyone gathered together. That the whole family put aside their differences and tried to behave nicely. And most of all she had loved the traditions. Especially the Forbes-tradition of building a snow-man.  
   
When she had been four years old her father had come to her room around midnight, the day after Christmas eve. He had pulled her out of bed and bundled her up in warm clothes, before leading her out into the garden, where they had built a snow-man. Afterwards he had made hot cocoa for both of them and they had sat in the kitchen for another 20 minutes, thinking up a name for their snow-man.  
   
In the years that followed it had always been the same. Bill had shaken her awake shortly after midnight, they had built a snow-man and then they had drunk their hot cocoa, while discussing names. Despite the fact that the snow-man was always christened Harold in the end. Named after Caroline’s favorite uncle, because every year she would go and steal his old red scarf, to tie around the snow-man’s neck. In the end uncle Harold gave in with a laugh and let her keep it. She bought him a beautiful new cashmere scarf after that.  
   
The old red scarf was hidden in a drawer in Caroline’s room and got pulled out every year the day after Christmas eve. Because Caroline and her dad had kept up the tradition, even after her parent’s divorce. She usually visited her father the day after Christmas eve and the scarf was always in her bag when she did. And every year Bill came to wake her around midnight. When she was a teenager she started protesting that she was too mature for that now or that it was too cold and her dad would always say: “Come on, honey. Humor your old man.” And she would do just that and neither ever mentioned that the tradition meant a lot to both of them. Just like it meant a lot to Caroline that it was always just the two of them. No-one else was ever invited along.  
   
But this year everything was different. Her father knew now that she was a vampire. And he couldn’t accept that fact. Couldn’t accept her anymore. This year she wouldn’t visit him during the holidays. He probably wouldn’t even call or send a card. She was dead to him and that hurt more than she cared to admit. There would be no more snow-men and uncle Harold’s old scarf would remain in her drawer and be forgotten. Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes.  
   
But she would not cry. Not over something like this. She acted like everything was fine and was her usual bubbly self while discussing decorations and presents with the others. Her problems really were small compared to others. Compared to Elena, who had lost so many loved ones. If Elena could smile and look forward to Christmas, then Caroline could do the same. And forget about stupid snow-men.  
   
On Christmas eve she had a nice dinner with her mom. The whole house was covered with garlands and fairy lights and glitter and it smelled of cinnamon, cookies and mulled wine. Caroline and Liz laughed a lot while exchanging presents later on and the vampire hugged her mother with a happy grin when she unwrapped the beautiful earrings they had seen in a shop-window a few weeks ago. That her mother had remembered that she had liked them meant a lot, because it showed how much she really cared. And that was probably the best gift of all.  
   
The next day Caroline met with her friends at the Gilberts, to celebrate and exchange gifts. All of them were there: Elena, Jeremy and Alaric of course, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler and even both Salvatores. Although Stefan seemed a little shy, keeping mostly to himself and Damon kept making snide comments. At least while he wasn’t busy undressing Alaric with his eyes. Despite a few minor incidents – Bonnie spilling eggnog over her blouse or Jeremy having to kiss Matt underneath the mistletoe for example – it was a nice day and Caroline was grinning when she finally headed home.  
   
But as night fell the dark thoughts returned. Caroline remembered all those years of celebrating with her dad and had to suppress the urge to wrap herself up in uncle Harold’s scarf and cry until she fell asleep. She kept tossing and turning for a long time, until she finally slipped into an uneasy sleep.  
   
Only to be awoken by a strange sound a few minutes later. She blinked sleepily, trying to find out what had awakened her, until she spied the dark figure creeping towards her. Without thinking about it she jumped out of bed and tackled the intruder, who hit the ground with a gasp.   
“Easy Care, it’s me.” a familiar voice reached her ears.   
She sighed in relief and got up to switch the light on. “Damn it, Tyler! You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing, creeping through my bedroom?“  
   
The hybrid sat up and grinned at her. “Damn, I always forget how strong you are.” he commented, rubbing his back.   
“Don’t creep up on a vampire, you fool. Seriously. And I asked you something.“ Caroline reminded sharply.   
Tyler finally got up off the floor and she noticed that he was wearing a warm jacket and gloves. “I’m here to kidnap you. Get dressed.” he ordered. The blonde started to protest, but he only handed her a warm coat and told her to hurry up.  
   
Caroline snorted in disgust, but dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, putting on the coat, gloves and warm boots. She completely forgot that as a vampire she was less prone to being cold. Tyler shouldn’t feel the cold either, so the clothes were probably more for show. Once she was dressed he took her hand and pulled her down the stairs, colliding with furniture twice on their way down. “Quiet! You’ll wake my mom.” Caroline hissed, but the hybrid shrugged it off.   
“Doesn’t matter. She knows I’m here.“ he claimed, raising her curiosity. Did Liz know his plans?  
   
“What the hell are you planning? And where are we going?” she asked, but Tyler kept quiet and only pulled her out into the garden.   
“Here we are.” he said finally.   
“Great. And what are we doing here?” the blonde asked in annoyance.   
His next words however took her completely by surprise. “We’re building a snow-man.” 

For what felt like hours Caroline could only stare at him. Finally Tyler started balling up snow, looking up at her expectantly. “So are you helping or not?”   
She nodded slowly and went to help him. “But… we don’t even have…” she started, only to be interrupted by her boyfriend.   
“Over there.” He pointed to the side of the house and she noticed an old broom, a carrot and uncle Harold’s scarf. When she looked back at Tyler he only grinned.  
   
The next hour was spent mostly in silence, while they built a huge snow-man that was even bigger than Tyler. The hybrid chuckled when Caroline started fixing bits here and there or chided him that the carrot nose was lopsided and insisted he had to put it right. At last she carefully draped the red scarf around the snow-man and stood back to admire their work. 

“That’s the coolest snow-man I’ve ever seen.” Tyler claimed, making her giggle. “He’s all finished now, right?“ he checked.   
Caroline nodded. “He’s perfect.“  
   
Her voice nearly broke and once again tears filled her eyes. But this time they were tears of joy. Tyler grinned and dragged her back inside. They got rid of their wet jackets and boots and headed to the kitchen, where Liz was waiting with three cups of hot cocoa. Caroline took her cup and sat down next to her mother. 

“What should we call him?” Liz broke the silence.   
“Harold?“ Tyler suggested with a smirk.   
“Maybe we should pick a different name this time.“ Caroline mused hesitantly.   
“No, he looks like a Harold.“ Tyler insisted and Liz agreed, both keeping a straight face.   
The blonde vampire giggled. “Okay, Harold it is.”  
   
She looked first at her mother and then at her boyfriend and whispered: “Thanks.”, hoping both would know how much she loved them for doing this.   
Tyler took her hand and smiled. “Merry Christmas, Caroline.”   
Liz smiled as well and Caroline finally felt the sadness that had filled her for the last few days drain away. Her father might not accept what she had become, but there were enough people who loved her, just like she was. And she already knew that she would never forget this Christmas.


End file.
